59-year-old makes D-III college team.

Talk about a comeback. Only guy I remember even coming close to this was a fellow who played somewhere in the PSAC years ago when he was about 46.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2986313&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines
ALPINE, Texas -- Mike Flynt was drinking beer and swapping stories with some old football buddies a few months ago when he brought up the biggest regret of his life: getting kicked off the college team before his senior year.

So, one of his pals said, why not do something about it?

Most 59-year-olds would have laughed. Flynt's only concern was if he was eligible.

Finding out he was, Flynt returned to Sul Ross State this month, 37 years after he left and six years before he goes on Medicare. His comeback peaked Wednesday with the coach saying he's made the Division III team's roster. He could be in action as soon as Sept. 1.

Never saw Necessary Roughness, although I presume it was made back before SWTSU became plain ol' TSU. The Lobos are at a hell of a disadvantage in that conference of theirs, which is full of private institutions with a lot more money to throw at sports than Sul Ross.

Not everyone is happy with these kinds of stories. This is from D3Football.com and is posted by the site's director, Pat Coleman. If you've ever been on the site and especially on the message board, he tends to come off as at least a heavy-handed, impatient know-it-all and, at worse, a tool

22
Aug
2007 I wish Mike Flynt well, and hope he succeeds and enjoys his comeback with Sul Ross State. This blog post shouldn’t be considered a knock on him or the football team in any sense.

It’s a knock on the national media.

Unfortunately, this is exactly the kind of Division III story we’ve come to expect the national media to glom onto.

A 59-year-old comes out to play his final year of eligibility and it grabs headlines. A basketball team scores 200 points. A 34-year-old plays quarterback. A basketball player refuses to face the flag for the national anthem.

These are all interesting stories, don’t get me wrong. But they have a way of becoming the face of Division III sports. And that just isn’t accurate.

Division III fans already know this. This is for those stumbling across the site who don’t know what D-III is all about.

Division III football players are legitimate players. It’s not a glorified club team. It’s not an extension of high school. They deserve better attention from the national media.

Thankfully, there are other stories that can be paid attention to. USA Today joined other media outlets with a story on St. Vincent reviving football. The Washington Post’s Sunday magazine recently published an extensive story on reviving intercollegiate football at Gallaudet. And there are many other stories, some of which we hope to write about this season, and others which we don’t even know about yet.